Misfit
by Enimul
Summary: Some might have found it funny how, living deep inside the sewers of New York City, with an elderly mutant ninja master rat for a father and four teenage mutant ninja turtles for brothers, it was she, the human girl, who was the freak.
1. Freak

It had been so cold that night.

Somehow it had been starting to get better, though. The coldness was slowly going away, replaced by a strange emptiness. She'd heard a word for it before, but hadn't been able to remember it at the time. Now she could. Numb. She had been going numb. A weird feeling, but she had thought anything better than the unending cold. Even so, she had been so hungry and could barely breathe and her throat and head had hurt so much, and those pains would not numb.

Then, as if in response to a prayer she hadn't sent, someone gave her food.

She'd thought he was a woman at first, with his pretty dress, but his voice was too deep, too powerful. Hopeful, she had asked for more food, wanting to see if it had truly been him who had helped her. And he was, as right after more food had appeared in her hands. He spoke to her then, so kindly, so gently, the first person that spoke to her in longer than she could remember.

She hadn't wanted to leave him, this kind person. She wanted to stay with him, live with him, like she had with her mother before she died. She wanted it more than anything, even the food he laid at her feet when he misunderstood her. But she hadn't been able to tell him. She'd tried, best as she could, but it almost wasn't enough and he almost left her.

Then he rested a hand so warm on her cheek and took her into his arms, and she knew instantly that she loved him.

When her tears had stopped she had been surprised to find that he was not just a man, but also a rat. A rat man. She hadn't known that was possible. The rat man, the kind man, asked her once again what she wanted from him, and she clung to him with all the strength she had. She did not want to lose him. She refused to lose him.

And she did not. He'd finally understood and taken her with him underground, beneath the manhole covers and far into the dark tunnels below the city. Through the sewers he ran, faster than she'd known anyone ever could, until he had carried her to what she now knew as the Lair. He hadn't stopped there though, taking her through a room with a small tree and into a dark room past sliding doors.

That was when things became blurry.

It had been touch-and-go for a while, she was told. She had been so horribly sick, and on top of that she'd been underweight and practically frozen. Days passed before she was anywhere near stable, and it took many more weeks after that until she was anywhere close to healthy. It was really a miracle he had found her, else she surely would have died. It really was a miracle that she had lived.

Her whole life after that cold day was made of miracles.

During that time she'd been kept alone, in the kind person's room. She'd heard voices outside, young voices she couldn't understand, but it was only the kind man who ever entered the room. He fed her, clothed her, cared for her, and though she hadn't thought it possible her adoration for him grew every moment.

The day came when was she was completely well, and the kind man spoke to her. "My child," He'd said to her as he sat in that funny way he liked to, "I am happy to say that you are healthy again. Now that you are, however, I have some things I must ask you. Many weeks ago you wished to come with me, and you have. But I must make sure that we are both clear on your intentions. Did you only wish to come with me for a time, or had you meant to stay with me always?"

It had been always. Always and forever.

He'd smiled when she held up two fingers, indicating the second answer. "Very well. But if that is the case, I must tell you a story." The kind man took a deep breath. "Years ago, I was a human. I came to this city from Japan, a land across the sea, after a dear friend betrayed me and took everything that I loved. One day, as I was walking home from the pet store with four baby turtles I had purchased, I spotted a suspicious man and followed him into an alley. There I was discovered by him and his fellows when I accidentally stepped on a rat and caused it to shriek. We fought, and I was the victor. However, one of the men was carrying a canister filled with a strange ooze, and the fight caused it to shatter. The ooze got onto me, and changed me into what I am today, while the turtles became more human-like. Knowing that we would never be accepted by society, I hid us all in the sewers of New York, where we have been ever since."

The kind man had paused in his story and looked her straight in the eye. "The reason I am telling you this story is because if you choose to stay here, you must remain in the sewers until I allow otherwise. Our secret cannot risk being revealed to anyone. You will be trained in the way of the ninja and become a kunoichi, a female ninja...and we will become your family, the turtles as your brothers, and I as your father. Knowing all this, do you still want to stay?"

She hadn't hesitated to nod. There was nothing she wanted more in the world.

His shoulders had relaxed a little and he smiled. "Very well. Shall we go meet your brothers, then?" Asked the kind man – her father – as he stood and held out a hand for her to take. Her returning smile was so big it had hurt her face as she took his hand.

Together they'd opened the door to the room to find the turtles – her brothers, her _family_ – waiting right outside with their lack of ears to the door. They fell inside when it slid open and glanced up at their father sheepishly. Then their eyes had all moved down to her and widened larger than she had thought they were able to.

Her brothers all jumped to their feet and began clamoring in that strange way she'd heard, the bouncy song-like gibberish. Their father responded in kind, silencing them in a quiet tone that somehow boomed. She guessed that he introduced her, because all eyes went back to her and silence filled the air. Unsure of what to do, she had given a little wave.

That seemed to do the trick as the boys had immediately surrounded her, chattering amongst themselves in their strange way. One of them curiously and tentatively reached a hand out to stroke her hair, and she had leaned into the touch, seeing that he had none of his own to play with. That gave the others courage to examine her as well, her hands, her feet, her back, her skin, her ears, her face, and she had gotten to know them in kind.

She had loved them instantly, too.

But living with them was harder than she'd have thought.

Curiosity created an initial bond between her and her brothers, but at the time they could only speak Japanese, and she could not speak at all. Frustration grew among the boys when she could not understand what they tried to tell her, until they gave up speaking to her entirely. Eventually they solved their language barrier, the boys learning English while she learned to write in both English and Japanese, but it was the start of a gap between them that would only grow.

She was not a good ninja. Worse than even the brother who would prefer to solve problems with words rather than violence. Her lack of speech made her a liability in combat, when they needed to communicate and work together for victory. She was too soft, in both heart and body. Criticism was hard for her to hear, she cried at the slightest provocation, she bruised too easily, and she did not have the stamina or talent to keep up with the rest of them. She lacked their mutant strength, their animal instincts. The only real skill she was superior in was her stealth. If she did not want to be found even her father would be hard pressed to find her.

Simply living with them was difficult too. Her stomach wasn't able to properly handle what her family ate, their worms and algae. Writing out her every thought to them was frustrating and unreasonable, paper being too scarce a resource to be used so constantly. She missed the rumble of cars across the city roads, the cries of animals feral and tamed, the hum of streetlights and neon signs, the constant murmur and footsteps of people as they passed her by, and the sky most of all.

Most of all, she was just too different.

Her body, her human body, which had once been a wonder to the turtles and a fact of life for her, slowly became a point of scorn and a source of shame. She had no scales to shield her skin, no shell to protect her when she fell. Her five-fingered hands could do a lot of things her brothers struggled with. She had hair and visible ears and she was purely human. She was different. So different. And she herself hated it most of all. Because of her body she was even allowed to go to the surface earlier than her brothers were. It had been an exception made of necessity, as she could go into a store to buy medical supplies without true risk, but it was an exception that had not ended afterward, an exception that her brothers were deeply jealous of. That they might even have resented her for.

She didn't bother to point out that she had lived up there for many years prior. Not that she could have.

Even their father treated her differently. Arguments were usually decided in her favor when she was involved, and he was much gentler on her during combat. She was given more hugs and pats on the head than all of her brothers combined. Punishments were lighter, more trust was given, she was hovered over more when sick or injured, and he was far more overprotective of her than any of the others.

And no matter what she did, nothing changed.

She tried to speak, so that they could communicate with each other without the need for gestures or paper, but she was never successful. All the attempts gave her was a burning in her throat. Trying to fit in more by binding her fingers together so they functioned as three on each hand or wearing something on her back to resemble a shell resulted in looks of dismay from her father, while her brothers would 'accidentally' destroy them in combat. She trained longer and harder than even her oldest brother, yet she was always lagging behind them anyway and the extra practice just made them think her trying to impress their father. She tried to meet their expectations, but she always fell short. No matter what she did, it was never enough.

The gap between them became a ditch, and the ditch a trench, and the trench a yawning chasm, and she could only stare across wondering and wishing for a way to bridge it.

Her brothers loved her, of course. She had no doubt of that, even though they never spoke the words. But she did not think that they loved her in the same way she loved them, wholly and unconditionally. She did not believe that they loved her as family. They never called her bro, or imouto, or sister, or sis, or even sissy, which was an insult that she would have expected her strongest brother to jump on immediately. But he never did. None of them ever did.

She knew that her father loved her. She knew _why_ her father loved her. And she was okay with that. She could play that role. Even if her love from him was second-hand, she could accept it. Because he had been the first to speak to her in what had felt like an eternity. Because he had saved her life and taken her in, given her food and clothes and a family and a name. Because he was the person who meant the most to her in the entire world.

And she was okay with all of it.

But sometimes the lies and differences hurt so bad she could hardly breathe.

Some might have found it funny how, living deep inside the sewers of New York City, with an elderly mutant ninja master rat for a father and four teenage mutant ninja turtles for brothers, it was she, the human girl, who was the freak.

Miwa wasn't laughing.


	2. Rise and Shine

"Miwa! Miwa, wake up!"

Miwa's eyes snapped open and she bolted upright in her bed. She hadn't fallen back asleep after getting dressed. No, she had just rested her eyes for a little too long. That was all. No sleeping in for her!

Denial set firmly in place, she turned her attention back to whoever was banging on her door. Judging by the voice, it was Mikey. "C'mon, Miwa, we're gonna be late for practice! And Master Splinter is gonna make me do like a hundred flips if I'm late again! I mean, us. Make us. Heh heh."

Rolling her eyes, she reached out and slammed her palm against the wall twice. The banging on her door stopped. "You sure? You're gonna be pulling it really close." When Miwa repeated the action her brother couldn't hide the relief in his voice. "Okay, I'll meet you there then!"

At the sound of scaled feet padding away, Miwa rose from her bed and began to stretch. She knew she was going to be late for practice at this rate, but there had been no point in making her brother wait behind for her and end up being late too. Especially when it was Mutation Day. That would be an awful way to start what Mikey often said to be the best day of the year. Though he said the same for most every holiday.

May eleventh was the designated true birthday for all of her brothers. They all had their own individual birthdays, of course, but those were more for the sake of celebration than actually growing older. This year they would be turning fifteen, and she knew that they would be making the argument that they were old enough to finally go up to the surface. Being late for training certainly wouldn't help them.

It wouldn't help her either. She glanced at the clock and sighed when she saw that she was four minutes late already. She was in for it. With one final stretch Miwa turned her dark eyes to the mirror to check how she looked one last time.

She wore a black bodysuit that's limbs ended just about at the wrists and ankles. On top of that she wore a white short-sleeved gi top bearing the Hamato Clan symbol on its back, as well as a pair of short gi pants, also in white. A belt around her waist held her weapons and a few other items she might need when she left for the surface. She wore jika-tabi on her feet, and her hands were bandaged and covered with fingerless black gloves. Her elbow and knee pads, copper in color, were all firmly in place. Turning around, her black hair reached down to the small of her back, braided together with the tails of her snow white mask.

Not satisfied with her appearance – she never was – but knowing her looks were acceptable, Miwa went to join her family.

* * *

Her brothers got into position for one-on-one sparring, Raph facing Donnie and Leo facing Mikey. Master Splinter stood at the edge of the room and watched, Miwa by his side, who he had asked to join him. She had a bad feeling about that.

The second pair of brothers went first, weapons poised for battle. They stared at each other for several long moments, Leo with his usual focus and Mikey with an unusually serious look on his face for once. Miwa doubted it would last long.

It was Leo who struck first. At least he tried to. He ran towards Mikey with a yell, sword raised, but his brother sure enough gained a confident smirk and charged towards him, nunchaku spinning. "Oh yeah, Michelangelo is on the move!" The younger turtle taunted. Leo sliced horizontally but Mikey dodged and ended up behind him, flipping his nunchaku around fancily. "You don't know what to do!"

Leo charged again with another horizontal slice, but Mikey was more than ready for it. "I'm here." He claimed as dodged the blow. "I'm there." He ducked and rolled to the side. "I can be anywhere!" His grin was positively joyful until his eyes went wide as dinner plates when Leo nearly brought his katana down on his head. But he dodged that too, missing the smirk on his brother's face as he did.

"How do you stop what you can't even see?" Mikey did a little dance motion as he asked, overconfident.

Miwa could see the calculations run through Leo's head as the youngest turtle charged him. He flipped the sword so he held the blade in both hands and rammed the hilt right into the unsuspecting brother's gut just as he got close enough. Mikey tumbled, gagged, and was down for the count.

"Like that?" Leo suggested.

From his spot on the ground Mikey raised a twitching finger into the air. "Good one Leo..." He wheezed before he dropped his hand.

Leo went off to the side and Mikey quickly recovered and moved when Donnie began to twirl his bo staff, signaling that he was ready to begin. Raph, looking unimpressed, simply cracked his neck. "Alright Donnie." Raph said. "Put down the staff, and no one gets hurt."

"Uh, you said that last time Raph and then you hurt me." Donnie responded with a disbelieving look on his face.

"Yeah," he admitted with a small shrug "but...less than I would have."

Donnie did not drop his bo. "Yeah right."

The purple-masked turtle charged with a downwards swing, and then another. He jabbed straight, then another strike down, from the side, and the side again. Raph followed Mikey's example by dodging every blow Donnie sent him with an ease Miwa envied.

Donnie spun his staff above his head and made a fatal mistake – he closed his eyes as he swung down. When he opened them he found his weapon no longer in his own hands, but in his brother's, who had a smug look on his face. He twirled the bo mockingly before raising it over his knee.

Miwa quickly clapped her hands three times. When her red-masked brother looked over to her she pointed to the weapon he held and then her outstretched hand. It was obvious that he had won but he didn't need to break the weapon to drive the point home. Didn't he have any idea how hard it was to find lumber large enough to make a bo staff in New York City anyway? Near impossible, that's how hard. Not to mention bringing it back to the Lair.

Her brother scowled. Suddenly the bo was in front of her face, held there by a smiling Master Splinter. Raph must have thrown it when she blinked. Miwa held her hands over her heart and bowed to her sensei before taking the weapon.

She turned back to the fight to see Raph whacking poor Donnie's shell like he was playing drums, victim protesting all the while. Leo stepped back into the middle of the floor just then, which caught Raph's attention and allowed Donnie to flee. Miwa handed her genius brother his weapon as he passed, and he nodded in wordless thanks.

"Onegaishimasu." Leo said, and Miwa looked back to find he and Raph kneeling like the other sparring partners had been before.

"Whatever you say." Raph responded nonchalantly.

Both rose, Leo holding his sword so it was parallel to the ground and pointed at Raph, and Raph drawing his sai, crossing them and positioning himself so that he was ready to attack or defend as needed.

The elder attacked first, with a downwards swing that Raph was able to cross-block. They struggled to overpower each other for a few seconds before Raph's strength won, and he tried to hit Leo's head with a downwards strike. Leo ducked and spun around the blow, unleashing his own at his brother's back. The shorter brother ducked around that as well and held his sai up in a defensive position.

There was a heartbeat's pause before Raph switched his grip and charged Leo with a yell. The blue-masked brother tried to slice down at Raph, but the blow was avoided and countered with an elbow to the neck. Leo was able to retaliate with a sweep to the leg that caused Raph to fall.

Honorable turtle that he was, Leo waited for Raph to stand before attacking again with a jump strike. It was awkwardly blocked before Leo jerked his sword to the left, causing one of Raph's sai to go flying from his hand. The weapon flew straight between Mikey and Donnie, who sat off to the side. Neither of them so much as twitched.

With one weapon left, Raph gripped his sai tight and glared at Leo, who met his gaze. With two bellowing war cries they charged each other.

In a motion that Miwa missed by blinking, Leo's sword fell from his hand. His face was shocked as Raph caught his wrist between two of the prongs of his sai and twisted before the hothead grabbed his brother's arm and threw him onto his shell. The older turtle moaned and gripped his wrist as Raph went to stand over him. "Nice try." The victor said, tone a little mocking, but his expression betrayed his sincerity.

"Yame!" Master Splinter called out from beside Miwa, who jumped at the sudden sound. She'd been so engrossed in the fight she had lost track of her surroundings. A foolish mistake that would not and did not go unnoticed by the rat, who motioned for her to join her brothers with a raised eyebrow.

Face flushed in shame, Miwa did so, sitting beside Mikey seiza-style. Master Splinter walked in front of his children, cane quiet as it tapped the carpeted ground. "You all did very well." He told them.

"But I did better." Raph gloated. Leo shot him a look of disbelief.

"This is about self-improvement, Raphael. It is not about winning and losing." Their sensei told him as he circled around and stopped behind his boastful son.

"I know sensei." Raph said with a smile that disproved that statement. "But I won and...they lost." The smile quickly vanished from his face when Splinter pinched his neck, however. "But what's really important is that we all did our best! Good job everyone!" He continued in a strained rush, eyes teared up from pain. Raph fell to the floor when Splinter released him. Their father chuckled, and Miwa couldn't quite stop her shoulders from shaking in silent laughter. Despite the fact that it was silent Raph somehow knew and turned his head to glare at her. She swore he had a sixth sense about that sort of thing. Miwa pointedly looked away and stilled her shoulders.

"But sensei, Miwa hasn't sparred yet." The observant third brother pointed out, while said girl shot him a look that screamed 'TRAITOR'. To think that she had saved his bo staff for him, too. Ungrateful little...see if she ever did anything nice for him again.

"Ah, yes. I had almost forgotten." Splinter replied in a tone that said he had actually just been waiting for one of his students to bring it up. How he had a tone for that exact sentiment they would never know. "Thank you, Donatello."

The red-masked ninja got a look in his eye that had Miwa instantly wary. "Sensei, since I won – though we all did our best! – do I get to fight her?"

The question had Miwa praying to every deity she could think of off the top of her head that it would not be the case, because if it was she was _so_ in for it.

"No." Master Splinter said, and Miwa's and Raph's shoulders fell, in relief and dismay respectively. Until they heard his next words. "I will."

Oh, she was _really_ in for it.

Miwa swallowed her nerves and moved into position without fuss. Master Splinter mirrored her, and for several too long moments they stared at each other. With an unspoken agreement they rose in sync, Miwa drawing one of her tessen while her sensei slid into a fighting stance, cane gone. Apparently he was going weaponless. That knowledge did not make Miwa feel even slightly better.

She had barely opened her war fan before Master Splinter was suddenly there, chopping down at her head. Miwa managed to sidestep and swung the tessen at his outstretched arm, only for the limb to vanish as suddenly as it had descended. Instinct screamed at Miwa to duck, so she listened, and the displacement of air above told her that she had narrowly dodged a chop to the neck. She stepped forward and thrust the tessen at her sensei, but he redirected her arm with a strength that sent her stumbling.

She turned the stumble into a roll, closing her fan and getting into a crouch as soon as she was able. She spun around and used the tessen to block the blow she knew would come, and sure enough it did, a kick strong enough to send a jolt through both her arms. Miwa resisted the urge to flinch away from the pain and instead shoved back, which threw her sensei off balance. She lunged, tessen raised to club his head.

But she realized too late that it was a bluff. His balance was suddenly back and he struck her hand, which sent her weapon flying into the air above. He kept going, striking at her with such ferocity and relentlessness that she couldn't even draw her second tessen. It was all she could do not to get hit.

Miwa swore she heard Raph mutter something about this being the best Mutation Day yet as she barely avoided another blow from their sensei.

It wasn't long before her luck ran out. She found herself backed against the tree, and when she looked up thoughtlessly to see what she had hit her sensei punched her right in the gut. All the air went out of her and she slid to the ground, clutching her stomach and trying to return oxygen to her lungs. She made no move to get up and held both her hands in the classic 'I surrender' pose when she could breathe again.

To think he had been going easy on her, too.

"And this is why you are not late for training." Master Splinter said with a smile, while Miwa hit the back of her head against the tree, internally groaning.

* * *

"There's a little more algae and worms left if anyone wants it! Anybody? Anybody?"

The brothers all verbally refused Mikey's offer of a second serving while Miwa shook her head, not even able to eat what was in front of her. No matter how many times over the years she tried to convince herself to eat it, she just couldn't stomach the stuff, literally as much as figuratively. Whenever she did manage to get any down her throat it just came straight back up not even a quarter hour later.

"Well! I guess no one left room for..." Mikey paused dramatically before he revealed what was behind his back with a flourish. "...cake!"

His brothers all gasped while Miwa ducked her head to hide her smile. "It is a cake!" Donnie exclaimed.

And it was a cake. A _real_ cake. A marble cake with chocolate frosting, the words 'Happy M–Day' written large in green icing on top of it. Fifteen unlit candles ran around the edge. Four turtles and a rat, all made of sugar, stood in a ring in the center of the dessert, with big cartoony smiles and colored shells or fur that showed who was supposed to be who.

"How in the world did you get a cake like _that_?" Donnie continued, gaping.

"How in the world did you get a cake at _all_?" Leo asked instead, also gaping.

Mikey shot Miwa a pointed look, and all eyes turned to her. Raph reached across the table to tussle her hair roughly with a wide grin. "Miwa, you rock!"

Miwa couldn't help but beam at that.

"Happy Mutation Day!" Mikey cried out.

"Happy Mutation Day!" The boys echoed while the girl mouthed the words.

"Ah, yes." Their father said as he looked fondly over the scene. "Fifteen years ago today, our lives changed forever, and we became the unlikeliest of families."

Mikey set the cake down and practically teleported to their sensei's side. "Tell us the story Master Splinter!"

"Michelangelo, I have already told it many times." Master Splinter informed his son, amused by the request. This was done every year, after all. It was almost tradition.

"Please? Pleeeeeeeeeaaaaaase?" Mikey begged as he clasped his hands together.

Raph slapped a hand over his little brother's mouth and begged in turn. "Please, it's the only way to shut Mikey up."

Their father sighed, but wasn't truly bothered. "Ah, very well."

Miwa didn't bother to pay attention to the story. She knew it by heart after having heard it recited every year for more than half her life. Instead she just appreciated the feeling she had.

Belonging.

It was a warm and comforting feeling, something akin to an embrace, and its rarity made it all the more beautiful to her. Sometimes – oftentimes if she was being honest with herself – she felt like she should not be there, under the city with the five that she loved so much. And if she were being even more honest with herself she knew she shouldn't be. That cold night in the alley should have been her last. She should have died there, fallen asleep and never woken up with only the moon a witness to the scene. Instead she had been taken in on the whim of a kind and mourning man, a substitute for someone he had lost long ago. In all truth she did not belong. But now, sitting around the table and celebrating the day that brought her family into being, Miwa had a precious moment of feeling that this was her home, and that this was where she was supposed to be.

She emerged from her musings to hear the tail end of the tale. "That was the beginning of our life together. It was the mysterious substance in this canister that, in a way, gave birth to us all."

Mikey snatched the canister out of his father's hands and cradled it close to his face. "Mom..." He sighed happily.

The family took a moment to stare at the youngest turtle before Leo turned to Master Splinter. "So sensei, now that we're fifteen, I think we're finally ready to go up to the surface don't you?"

There was a beat of silence before he answered. "Yes."

The children cheered.

"And no."

The children groaned.

"I hate when he does that." Raph groused, and Miwa nodded in agreement.

"You have grown powerful, but you are still young." Master Splinter told them as he rose from his seat and walked away from the table. Clearly he felt the conversation was over. "You lack the maturity to use your skills wisely."

Donnie spoke up then, ever curious, and made Splinter pause. "So sensei, isn't that just...no?"

"Yes. And...no." Master Splinter turned to face him. "Wisdom comes from experience, and experience comes from making mistakes."

"Ah ha!" Donnie exclaimed, epiphany clear on his face. "So, in order for us to gain the wisdom, we have to make the mistakes! So we _can_ go!"

"No."

"...And yes?"

"No!"

Donnie let out a frustrated moan and hung his head. Leo took over then. "Sensei! We know you're trying to protect us, but we can't spend our whole lives hiding down here!"

Splinter actually seemed to consider it, turning his eyes from his children and stroking his beard. He glanced to his children as if to gauge who he was dealing with – only to stare when he found his sons on their knees in a line facing him. Miwa could not see from the angle she sat, but she did not doubt that they were full-out begging, puppy dog eyes and all. Master Splinter had no chance whenever they pulled those out. For turtles they all had ridiculously potent puppy dog eyes.

Their father turned his gaze to Miwa, who nodded her head once before she clasped her hands together and added her own puppy dog eyes to the mix. She had been going to the surface for years, but it had always been alone, and she wanted to be able to share the experience so badly that it ached. She wanted her brothers to see the upper world, to explore it with them and show its wonders. There were so many things that she wanted to show them.

Master Splinter's shoulders fell with an audible exhale. "You may go. Tonight."

The boys all cheered, ecstatic, and Miwa grinned so wide that it hurt her face. "High three!" Mikey called out as he stood and threw one hand in the air. The rest of the turtles quickly followed suit, and Miwa leaned forward in her seat to add her own hand, two fingers bent down to match her brothers.

"However!"

They froze, tense for the restriction their sensei would place upon them.

"Miwa will not be going with you."

The girl was instantly on her feet, protesting wordlessly. Why couldn't she go to the surface tonight? She had been waiting to show them the world above for years! It wasn't fair!

But Splinter's gaze and tone left no room for argument. "Either you do not go, or none of you go."

Her brothers all turned to look at her, breath held and eyes hopeful that she would stay behind. Miwa did not blame them, could not blame them. This was a day they had been dreaming of for years, when Master Splinter would finally let them explore the surface and see the world they had for so long heard about but never experienced. To take that away from them would unimaginably cruel.

She couldn't do that to her brothers, and he knew it.

Teeth gritted as if to hold back words, she bowed to her sensei, hands clenched at her sides. There were four – no, five muted sighs of relief, and the sound only reminded her of what she was giving up and made tears spring to her eyes. Head kept low so as not to show her face or see the faces of her family, she stomped to the counter to grab the cupcake she had bought for herself before she turned on her heel and stormed towards her room.

As she left, Miwa heard her brothers speak behind her.

"So...what do we do until tonight?"

"No clue."

Silence.

"Dibs on the Mikey turtle!"

"Oh, come on, dude, not fair!"

* * *

"You are going up to a strange and hostile world." Master Splinter told his sons as he paced in front of them. Miwa watched the scene from her seat on the edge of the pit, calmer and dry-eyed. "You must maintain awareness at all times."

"Hai sensei!" The turtles chorused before they turned to leave.

"Stay in the shadows!" Their father insisted as he reached a hand out to stop them.

"Hai sensei!" The turtles repeated before turning to leave once again.

"Don't talk to strangers!" Master Splinter added.

"Hai sensei!" The boys sounded a tad exasperated at this point.

"Everyone is a stranger!" Master Splinter informed them.

"Hai sensei..." Now they sounded really exasperated.

They nearly made it out of the Lair before they heard. "Make sure you go before you leave! The restrooms up there are _filthy_!"

"Sensei!" The boys all protested with varying degrees of embarrassment and dismay. It was all Miwa could do to keep a straight face.

Their father sighed and looked to them sadly. "Good luck, my sons."

The boys stayed still just long enough to acknowledge the statement before they were off, jumping over the turnstiles shouting about how excited they were. "Look both ways before crossing the street!" Master Splinter cried out to their retreating figures. He sighed and deflated when they vanished from sight, worry radiating from his entire being. "Be safe..."

Miwa took that as her cue to rise from her spot and make her way to her father, who she hugged from behind when she reached him.

Earlier, when the waterworks had subsided after Master Splinter forbade her from going to the surface with her brothers, Miwa had been able to see her father's line of thought, see his fear, and with the realization came understanding and forgiveness. Her brothers were going to a place where their father could not watch over them. A place full of as much horror as there was beauty, where the dangers hid so deep within the darkness that one would not notice them until it was too late. And he could not protect them from it. He had lost everyone that he loved once long ago in that cruel world. Keeping her in the Lair with him would prevent that from happening. As long as she stayed with him, even if something did happen to his sons, he wouldn't lose his whole family again.

He wouldn't lose _Miwa_ again.

Master Splinter did not shift to return the embrace, but he did lay his hands over Miwa's own. "Thank you, my child." He whispered. Gently, he broke free of her arms. "Now, shall we return to the dojo? We can work on your sparring until your brothers return."

Miwa knew it was going to be a long, long night.


	3. It Takes Rain

_So let me get this straight, _Miwa wrote on her notepad, _you guys went to the surface, saw a human girl and her father get kidnapped by some strange men, tried and failed to save them DESPITE this going against our sensei's DIRECT orders, went to talk to him about all this and got his permission AFTER you should have, Leo got appointed leader, you chased down a guy named Snake working with the strange men only to find that they're all connected to that ooze from fifteen years ago, you went and broke into their stronghold, found out that there really were brain alien robots like you had been saying all night, tried to rescue the humans but failed again, found out that you turned Snake into a giant plant mutant on accident, finally rescued the girl but not her father, took down the newly dubbed Snakeweed and those Kraang, promised the human girl that you guys wouldn't rest until you saved her father, and one of your shuriken got found and put on the news for the WORLD to see?_

"Um, yeah."

_And none of you thought to maybe wake me up and tell me about any of this before now?!_

"Um, no?"

Miwa hit her head against the nearest wall as Mikey smiled apologetically.

It was the morning after her brothers' first trip to the surface and Miwa had woken to find that she was once again about to be late for training. She had dashed out, ready for the day and barely on time to the dojo, only to find that training had been canceled as a late present for Mutation Day. Why it hadn't been given the day of, when she was actually late, Miwa did not know. The kunoichi had then been dragged aside by Mikey to try his new and thankfully edible breakfast creation, and to hear of her brothers' escapades the night before, which led to where she was now. With her forehead against concrete.

Miwa let out an exasperated sigh before she lifted her head and turned to face a still apologetic Mikey. She made a confused face, swept one arm in front of her and then tapped her temple with a finger before crossing her arms and leaning against the wall she had just hit herself on.

"We were thinking that the girl needed our help. Well, Donnie was thinking it. Man, you should have seen him, he went totally gaga over her." Mikey snickered at the memory before Miwa sent him a glare that made him cower. "Geez, chill Miwa! It all turned out fine, didn't it? Well, except for her dad. That kinda stunk. But we're gonna get him back and then everything will be fine. So chill. Chiiiiiiiiiiiiiiill."

Miwa shook her head. She would NOT chill. They had risked compromising the family, had disobeyed Master Splinter's most important rule, and for what? A pretty face? A lifetime of secrecy gone with one stupid move, and now they had a weapon with their Clan symbol on TELEVISION for anyone with eyes to see. No, Miwa was not going to chill. Not a chance.

And whose bright idea was it to put the Hamato Clan symbol on a shuriken anyway?!

"Seriously, relaaaaaax." Mikey told her, hands out in a placating gesture. "I can tell she's a nice girl and that she's not gonna squeal on us. And have I ever told you wrong?"

Miwa started counting off with her fingers.

Her nunchaku-wielding brother pouted at her. "Mean. But I promise she seems like a someone who can keep a secret. If you're really that worried you can see for yourself tonight when she visits."

The kunoichi sighed and forced herself to relax. Mikey was probably right. For all his crazy antics he was usually a pretty good judge of character, so long as he didn't let what he wanted to see get in the way of what he actually saw. It annoyed Leo to no end sometimes when he would point out the villains on Space Heroes before they were unmasked as such. So she was probably overreacting and wait a minute.

She was coming over?!

Mikey winced and gave a sheepish smile when Miwa began to gesture wildly. "I'm guessing I didn't mention that, huh?"

No he most certainly did not!

"Oops. Well, yeah, she'll be coming over tonight. At least, we're gonna see if she will. Master Splinter wants to talk to her to see if she's trustworthy and all that. So you can see for yourself that there'll be nothing to worry about!" The orange-masked turtle finished with an excited grin, but Miwa did not see it, already on her way to the dojo. "Hey!"

She didn't stop at his protest, barely heard it even. Lost in her thoughts as she was everything but her goal was pushed to the side. Why? Why would Master Splinter allow a stranger to enter the Lair? It didn't make any sense. They had been in hiding for over fifteen years now without true contact with the outside world, but suddenly their _father_ was inviting someone down to where they _lived_? Why would he do that? Why? Miwa didn't know, but she had every intention of finding out. She stormed towards the dojo, but paused when she reached the entrance. Master Splinter sat inside, meditating, and to enter without his permission would be incredibly disrespectful. But she didn't have to wait long to be acknowledged. "Enter, Miwa."

Miwa bowed and did so, slipping off her shoes and going to sit beside and behind her father. The rat opened his eyes and shifted to face her, and Miwa could feel the last traces of his meditative peace slip away from him. "Something troubles you, my child?" He asked in a gentle and concerned tone.

Nodding, Miwa reached into a pocket on her belt to pull out her notepad and charcoal – only to frown when she noticed that she had filled up her last sheet of paper demanding an explanation of Mikey. Had she really used so much habitually making paper cranes that she was out so soon after getting a new one? Apparently so, and she was going to have to get another soon, but for now it left her unsure how to ask her father about the girl.

Yet her father knew what she wanted even without words, like he so often did. "You are concerned about the girl your brothers rescued, are you not?"

She nodded.

"You need not be." He tried to reassure her. "Your brothers are all quite sure that this girl will do us no harm."

Miwa made a confused face, mimed talking, tapped where her second tessen rested in her belt, the one with the symbol of the Hamato Clan – she would have shown him the symbol but to unsheathe a weapon in the position they were in would be taken both as offensive and a sign of aggression – and tilted her head to the side questioningly.

Her father looked at her with an expression she couldn't read. "You do not believe this girl will keep her silence?" He questioned in a tone equally as unreadable.

She vehemently shook her head.

Master Splinter frowned, disappointed at something, and Miwa shrank into herself. "If you cannot trust your brothers' judgment, can you trust mine? I believe that my sons are old enough to be wise in their decisions, and hopefully you can be assured by my confidence in them."

Miwa cringed but nodded. She hadn't meant to doubt her brothers. Honestly she hadn't. But the thought of someone knowing about her family and possibly coming to harm them, mentally or emotionally or physically, or telling others who could do the same or worse...it was enough to bring tears to her eyes.

The expression on her sensei's face softened to affection, and he beckoned her closer. Miwa didn't hesitate to comply, and sat herself in his lap like she often had when she was younger. "I understand that you are afraid." Master Splinter began as he wrapped his arms around Miwa, who tucked her head against his shoulder to hide her face and nodded once. "It is nothing to be ashamed of, my child. Fear is a natural emotion, a warning for coming things that are dangerous or unknown. It is something that helps you to live another day if you acknowledge it. Sometimes it is wisest to heed it and yield. However, you cannot allow it to consume you. Total fear will paralyze you, leave you unable to act except to flee in terror, haunt your every hour and give you no respite. Giving in to fear can doom you as surely as ignoring it. I know this better than most..."

Master Splinter trailed off, lost to his memories, and Miwa wrapped her arms around him and squeezed to bring him back. He kissed the top of her head in return. "Thank you, my child. Now, you fear the thought of harm coming to your loved ones. It is a fear shared by most, myself included. However, pain and the risk of injury are constant and inevitable in life, especially lives such as ours. You must try to accept that and master your fear. It is a difficult task. Even I have not done so fully. But by holding something too closely and trying to shield it from the world, you may yourself end up harming the very thing that you want to protect the most. Do you understand, Miwa?"

She nodded, but leaned back and tapped the top of her wrist, then spun her finger in a circular motion in the air, followed by an exaggerated shiver.

The rat hummed thoughtfully, and the sound vibrated through his chest and made Miwa's nose tingle when he pulled her close, reassuring her yet again. "If it will ease your mind, know that I will be secretly following your brothers when they go to retrieve the girl tonight. If I feel that she is untrustworthy at any time I will prevent them from entering our home, and I will ensure that she will never do so."

That did make Miwa feel a lot better. After a few seconds she pulled out of her father's arms so that she could place her hands over her heart and bow best she could sitting on his lap.

He wasn't done talking though. "Of course, had you been awake last night when the boys asked me, I would have been able to tell you this then and spare you the worry you've had."

Miwa had to gape at that. She had _passed out! _After sparring with _him! _For _three hours!_

Master Splinter chuckled at her expression. He was entirely too fond of messing with his children.

* * *

"She's here! She's heeeeeeeeeeeeeeere!"

Mikey's triumphant shout broke Miwa's attention from the kata she was practicing. The kunoichi bowed out of the dojo, slipped on her shoes, and turned to find her goofy brother on top of her genius brother just at the foot of the stairs to the turnstiles. There was something between them, but she couldn't quite see what it was from where she stood. Donnie unknowingly enlightened her just as she moved forward to get a better look. "Mikey! Get off! You're crushing April!"

April? As in _shigatsu_? What kind of a name was that?

The girl, April, chuckled breathlessly. "It's fine." She said, though her pained tone said otherwise. Despite the tone and lack of air she had a very nice voice. "I appreciate the warm welcome."

A warm welcome that would not be given by Miwa. Her fears might have been quelled, but her dislike for the situation was still strong, and nothing short of a miracle was going to end that. She moved closer, making sure she was out of sight, so that she could see the face of this gaijin who had her brothers wrapped around her little finger.

...Okay, so it was a _very_ pretty face.

April wore a black hoodie and long jeans and boots, a practical choice when coming into the sewers that Miwa had to give her credit for. After she rose from Donnie's shell her hood fell down to reveal a shock of red hair. Miwa hadn't known hair even came in that color. The girl reached up to remove her blindfold – thank goodness her brothers at least had the sense to do THAT – and opened her eyes, which were brighter and bluer than even Mikey's. They were filled with a sort of naive wonder as she looked around the Lair, amazed at what she saw.

Miwa instantly disliked her.

"Sorry about that, April." Leo apologized as he followed them down the stairs the way one normally should. Raph glanced at the scene from his spot at the pinball machine briefly before he turned his attention back to the game. It had been Leo and Donnie who were sent to retrieve the girl (with Master Splinter secretly following them, of course), while Raph, Mikey, and Miwa had stayed behind in the Lair. "Mikey can be a little...enthusiastic." Leo continued as he turned a stern look on his youngest brother, who grinned, unrepentant.

"It's really fine." April insisted as she offered a hand to Donnie, still on the floor, who accepted the help with the goofiest grin Miwa had ever seen. Mikey hadn't been kidding about the gaga thing, apparently. "I'm glad you're all comfortable enough with me to treat me so normally."

"_Us_ be comfortable with _you_?" Raph scoffed as he pulled away from his game. "Shouldn't that be the other way around? You were the one who screamed at Donnie when he tried to save you."

Said turtle flinched at the reminder while Miwa stiffened. That part certainly hadn't been mentioned in Mikey's tale. How DARE that gaijin–

"Hey!" The gaijin protested, indignant. "My dad and I were being attacked by creepy alien robot people at the time! Can you blame me for being a little freaked out when four ninja turtles showed up too?"

Miwa could.

"Still..." April continued as she deflated a bit, her sudden burst of emotion leaving her. "You're right. Donnie was trying to save me and I screamed in his face." She turned to face said turtle, who straightened. "Donnie, I'm sorry about that. Thanks for saving me."

The purple-masked ninja blushed. "Uh, s-sure, anytime."

"And thank you all," She kept going as she looked at each of the brothers in turn. "for promising to save my dad. I'm really glad you guys found us that night, and I'm sorry for being so scared of you all at first. So let's try again." April smiled, wide and sincere. "Hi, my name is April O'Neil. It's nice to meet you."

The turtles all smiled back and reintroduced themselves while Miwa searched the human girl for any falseness of words or feelings. She found none. Maybe she was too far away?

"Oh, this is so cool!" Mikey suddenly exclaimed as he picked April up to spin her around in a crushing hug. Donnie protested noisily at their side. "We've never had anyone come down to the Lair before!"

"The Lair?" April squeaked out as all the air left her lungs.

"Long story." Leo told her, though it really wasn't. When Mikey had been younger and found his first comic book, the heroes in the story had a secret hideout they called The Lair, and Mikey had insisted they call their home the same, since they were going to be ninja and save lots of people like the heroes did. The name eventually stuck, capital L included.

Donnie finally pried his little brother away from his crush. "SO!" He shouted before clearing his throat and continuing at a more reasonable volume. "How about a tour of our home?"

"That sounds like a great idea!" It was Mikey who answered, not April, as he pulled her along to presumably start his brother's suggestion. Donnie gaped for a second before following the two, protesting against the youngest turtle who was clearly having too much fun messing with him. The other two boys simply shared an amused glance and followed. "Let's start with the most important place in the Lair!"

"Where's that?" April asked with a laugh.

"The kitchen, of course!" He replied as he pulled her through the blue tarp that separated the main room from where they ate.

Miwa opted to stay in the main room for a moment to collect her thoughts. From what she had seen the girl was kind and honest in her fondness for her brothers, but that couldn't be true. She was human. Humans were bad, evil liars, every one of them, so she couldn't be telling the truth. Miwa would have to pay more attention to the girl to see where the cracks in her mask lay.

She did not doubt her father's judgment in allowing his sons to bring the girl to the Lair and letting her actually come as he said he would if she was safe to trust. Not even slightly. But this was something she needed to see for herself, because as much as she loved and trusted him, his view was naturally skewed. Her father wasn't human. He had been, once, many years ago, but now he was a mutant rat, and he could no longer clearly see just how awful humanity still was, even after what one human had done to his family in the past. He had been hiding from them for several years underground, while she had been hiding among them, willingly or unwillingly, for several years herself. Not to mention, it took one to know one, as the saying went, and as much as Miwa loathed it, she was one.

By the time Miwa had finished thinking Mikey was pulling April back into the main room, followed by the rest of the turtles. She cursed herself for taking so long and missing precious observation time. "And this is the main room!" Mikey announced with a flourish. "The second most important place because it has the TV."

"Where you can find Leo watching his stupid Space Heroes show most days." Raph quipped, and Miwa let out a soundless sigh because here we go again.

Leo frowned and whirled on him, ready to defend his obsession, but it was actually April who spoke up first. "Space Heroes? Isn't that the show with that Captain who goes on all sorts of adventures with his crew through galaxies and stuff and has run for years with at least six remakes and ten movies?"

Everyone gaped but Leo, who turned to the guest with an excited grin that the family knew as his 'Space Heroes fanboy look'. "Yeah, that's the one!"

"What's it like?" She asked with honest interest. "I've heard about it before but I've never actually seen it."

Leo looked like she had just told him she strangled puppies for a living. "Nah n-nah nah never seen...?"

Great. Not there for ten minutes and April had already broken something.

The eldest brother got the determined gleam in his eyes that warned the others that something unpleasant was about to happen. He grabbed April's hand and dragged her towards the TV. "Come on, I'll show you! There's a marathon going on right now! You'll love it!"

"Oh no." Raph said as he pulled the girl away. "You are NOT infecting her with your stupid show."

"It's not stupid!" Leo protested as he tried to get April back, who seemed quite bemused. "It's a great series! And it has the greatest hero of all time on it, Captain Ryan!"

"Greatest? I think you mean _lamest_."

"He's not lame! And I'm going to be just like him some day, you'll see!"

"You already are, _Lameonardo_."

"Hey, would a lame captain be able to defend the universe from an invasion of Knoflops while sick with the Hervurio plague?"

"...Say what?"

"You know, in the episode where he–"

"I don't know, don't want to know, and don't care. Point is, everything about Space Heroes is stupid and lame."

"It's–"

"LAME!"

"You – You're just jealous!"

"Of what? Your bad taste in television?"

"_My_ taste? You watch ARTHUR sometimes!"

"Hey, Spike likes it!"

"Well Spike has bad taste then, just like you!"

That was one step too far for Raph, who lunged at Leo with a roar. The eldest fell over with a squawk of protest but quickly recovered and began to wrestle with his hotheaded brother. Mikey alternated between cheering and narrating the match. "In the red corner we have Hamato Raphael, defender of Arthur and Spike's honor, and in the blue corner we have Hamato Leonardo, defender of Space Heroes! Who will win? Go Leo, you got him pin – oh wait no you don't. Raph's got a nasty headlock. And Leo breaks free and counters with an impressive tackle! C'mon Raph, you can do better than that! Oh, and there's the famous noogie of doom, folks!"

Donnie, who had pulled April away at the first sign of things becoming physical, asked her, "So, do you wanna see my lab?"

The redhead glanced from Donnie to to the fighting brothers, where Mikey had gotten roped into the tussle somehow, and then back again. "Shouldn't we...?"

"Nope." Donnie answered as he dragged her off. Miwa followed.

Any lingering doubt the guest had about leaving the others vanished when she saw the lab. "Wow, Donnie, this is amazing!"

"Yeah, I know." Donnie replied modestly, puffed up with pride.

"Is all of this yours?" April asked as she wandered around, looking at everything but being careful not to touch. A wise choice, seeing as several of the things that the genius turtle made were dangerous, unstable, or had the chance of exploding. In some cases all three. "How did you even get all this stuff?"

"I have my ways." He replied as he leaned back against the wall and attempted to look cool. Despite the fact that April wasn't looking at him. Miwa rolled her eyes, both at her brother's antics and because his 'ways' of getting things was simply asking her. He was just trying to be mysterious or something, the dork.

"You guys even have a medical center!" April gasped as she walked over to the section that was dedicated to their health. Miwa tensed and had to fight the urge to go over to her and yank her away when she got close to some particularly delicate equipment. "You weren't kidding when you said there was nothing you weren't able to fix!"

Donnie cringed at that and went to stand by her side. "Actually, I can't fix living things. Just machines. That area's not mine."

"It's not?" April sounded surprised. "Whose is it then? Leo's?"

He laughed at the suggestion. "No, it's–"

The kunoichi perked up.

"–Miwa's."

The kunoichi scowled. Were they ever going to address her properly?

April waited a bit, apparently expecting more of an explanation than that, but spoke up again when she got none. "Okay...where's this _Miwa_, then?"

Miwa decided that was the time to introduce herself to the guest. Silently she snuck up behind the two and tapped them twice on the shoulder. Donnie's reaction was subpar, his breath hitching before he turned around and gave the kunoichi a withering glare. April, on the other hand, had a far more satisfying reaction. She _shrieked_, whirling around with a frantic expression on her face before leaping away and backpedaling. Miwa was worried that she was going to hit something, but thankfully Donnie intervened before anything got broken. "Here's Miwa." Donnie helpfully supplied as he laid a hand on April's back to keep her steady.

Miwa had to fight to keep her smile from becoming a smirk.

The genius opened his mouth to continue speaking, but was interrupted by the slam of the lab door opening. "What's wrong?!" Leo demanded.

"Donnie blow something up again?" Raph guessed, voice casual, expression concerned.

"Did he try to make a move?" Mikey asked hopefully.

Everyone stared.

Mikey shrugged. "Come on, you were all thinking it."

Miwa certainly hadn't been.

"Nothing, no, and NO." Donnie answered the questions in order. "I was just showing April around the lab when Miwa decided it would be funny to sneak up on us and scare April. That's it."

"Oh." Was Raph's eloquent reply. "...Time in!" He declared before he turned and tackled Leo, who squawked once again. Mikey dove into the tussle not a second later.

With a practiced ease born of many years Donnie ignored them. "You okay?" He asked as he turned back to April.

But April wasn't looking at him. Instead she was staring at Miwa in disbelief, frozen with what might have been shock. It didn't seem like she had even twitched since she'd gotten into that position, maybe not even blinked. Surely she hadn't scared her THAT bad?

"You..." She finally started, voice as shocked as the rest of her. "You're human."

Yes.

"Human."

Yes.

"..._Human_."

_Yes_, dangit, now stop reminding her.

"How are you human?" April asked, once again bringing up that fact Miwa hated oh so much. She didn't understand what was meant by the question, either. What was she supposed to be? A robot?

Donnie spoke up then. "Master Splinter will explain everything later." He told April as he snapped his hand back to his side before the guest could notice its resting place.

April accepted that answer with a slow nod, though it still left the kunoichi clueless. "Okay. Well, it's nice to meet you, Miwa." She said as she smiled at her.

Miwa smiled back and bowed politely, the feeling behind it false of course.

April let out a little "Oh!" and attempted to copy the gesture, but she did it wrong. She bowed like a man, not to mention stiff and far too deeply. The sight made Miwa want to laugh the gaijin's ignorance, but she simply adjusted her posture to correct her instead. The touch caused April to startle and look up at Miwa questioningly.

"She's just correcting your posture." Donnie explained for her. "You shouldn't be bowing so low to her."

Miwa personally disagreed about the lowness, but smiled and nodded anyway.

"Oh." April said as she furrowed her brow. From so close Miwa could see that the girl had a few freckles below her eyes. "Not to sound ungrateful or anything, but if I was doing it wrong why didn't you just tell me?" She asked the kunoichi.

"Miwa can't talk." Donnie explained for her again, bringing up yet another thing that the kunoichi hated. She wished that it would stop happening.

"Can't talk? Like, she's mute?" April turned to look at Miwa with wide eyes full of surprise and disbelief and confusion and _pity_. The last made her blood boil. "Why is she mute?"

There was silence for a few seconds before he answered. "I...I don't know." Donnie said and oh crap he had that look in his eye. The one that said there was a question he didn't know the answer to and he was going to find out no matter what and good luck trying to deny him his curiosity. That look never ended well. Miwa resisted the urge to glare at April for bringing the thought to his mind. She also had to resist the urge to look at her brother in disbelief. She had lived with him for YEARS and he had never paused to wonder why she couldn't talk? Did he think she just did it for fun? And if Donnie hadn't ever questioned her silence, then surely none of the others ever had. Did they seriously never think about it?

Ugh, boys.

"Miss O'Neil."

The girl addressed jumped at the sudden unfamiliar voice, while the other two simply turned to see their sensei in the doorway to the lab. The others were gone, Raph having won the scuffle a minute ago. April's eyes went wide at the sight of a giant talking rat, but otherwise did not react negatively. Miwa had mixed feelings about that.

Master Splinter smiled kindly at the guest and walked towards the trio. "It is a pleasure to finally meet you. Welcome to our home." He gave a small bow.

April bowed back, more right than the first attempt but still slightly wrong. Miwa subtly corrected her once again, Master Splinter worthy of a lower bow than her. The correction was accepted without comment. "No, the pleasure's all mine! Thank you very much for allowing me to come. I owe you and your family a lot!"

The ninja master smiled, either at the girl's politeness or her nervous babbling. "If you would follow me, we have much to discuss. I believe it would be a discussion best held in private, however." He turned and gestured for the girl to follow, who did so with a nod. Donnie followed too, most likely with the intention to wait as nearby as possible to know the 'verdict', or maybe even to try eavesdropping. Miwa opted to follow only as far as the main room before she headed to her own.

"See? Did I tell you or did I tell you?" Her goofy older brother asked as he passed her by in the hall, undoubtedly going to eavesdrop. Miwa scowled and shooed him off, and he fled laughing, but she couldn't deny the truth to his words. No matter how hard she had looked, she hadn't been able to find a single reason to doubt the girl's promise of silence. Her brothers were far too hasty in their dealing with and acceptance of her, yes, Donnie more than any of them, but April had not been acting in a manner that would make them feel that way. It was all natural, even the crazy overprotectiveness. As far as Miwa could tell the gaijin was honest, fair, and genuinely nice. A bit jumpy with a temper, yes, but the first was understandable considering what had just happened to her, and the second was nothing compared to Raph. No matter how hard Miwa had looked to see the cracks in her mask, it had become more and more apparent that there was no mask. Either April was a master manipulator (unlikely), or maybe, just maybe, she truly was okay.

If that were true, maybe someday she'd grow to like April O'Neil.


	4. To Make Flowers

Miwa hated April O'Neil.

She hated humanity as a general rule, of course. How could she not? They had abandoned her and left her to die. She had been starving and homeless before Master Splinter found her, yet not a single human being had lifted a finger to help her. No one spared her any time, gave her a kind word, nothing. Humans were a foul, uncaring, self-serving lot, every single one, and Miwa was disgusted to be counted among them.

Not even her mother was an exception to that rule. Her mother, the woman who had given birth to her, had barely looked at Miwa when she was alive. She had always been living her life with her child as an afterthought, permanently in the background, scenery. She hadn't even given her a name. A _name_, something so simple and easy to give, but so necessary. Instead she had just pointed to her child, called her 'kid' or 'brat' or 'you', and hadn't given it any more thought.

Yes, Miwa hated the human race.

But April O'Neil had a special hatred reserved just for her.

Miwa could sympathize with her, sure. She wasn't that petty. She could imagine the devastating effect that being captured and having her father taken from her would have, and doubted that she would be able to handle it. The thought alone was enough to make tears spring to her eyes. But April went through it and stood strong, and Miwa hated her for that, too.

What made her so special, anyway? Why was she the object of everyone's attention, sought after by an alien race and under the protection of Miwa's family? She was a completely normal human girl, nothing interesting to note besides her above average looks and intelligence, neither of which were impressive enough to be worthy of an attempted kidnapping. So what was it that made the cosmos revolve around her?

All of her brothers had loved her almost instantly. She was the first real human they had ever seen, that had ever accepted them, because apparently Miwa didn't count. They brought her down to the Lair, got to know each other, talked and laughed and grew close. Even their father liked the girl, trusted her enough to come and go as she pleased. April had wormed her way into their lives, into their hearts, and made a home there when it was all Miwa could do to cling to the edges.

That's what April was. A heartworm. A parasite. Except instead of killing the afflicted, she was killing the bystander.

And Miwa hated her for it.

* * *

_Can you lie next to her, and give her your heart, your heart, as well as your body? And can you lie next to her and confess your love? Your love, as well as your folly? And can you kneel before the king and say "I'm clean, I'm clean"? But tell me now where was my fault in loving you with my whole heart? Oh, tell me now, where was my fault? In loving you with my whole heart?_

Miwa mouthed along to the words of the song that came from her boombox best she could past her wide smile. White Blank Page by Mumford & Sons was one of her favorite songs, and hearing it always put her in a good mood. Nowadays, a good mood was a rare thing, so she had to treasure them when she could.

It had been several weeks since the gaijin had first arrived in the Lair, brought by Miwa's brothers to meet their sensei so that he could judge for himself whether or not the girl was safe to trust. Unsurprisingly, she was deemed trustworthy. Her brothers and April had rejoiced, then proceeded to spend a painfully long time talking and playing together until it was finally too late for the girl to stay any longer. Miwa had thought that was going to be the end of it, that it was going to be a one time thing, that after the one visit April would go back to the world above and stay there unless some sort of emergency demanded otherwise.

She had thought wrong.

April had been brought down the next day as well, for no reason other than her company. She had also come the day after that, and the day after that, and even the day after that, until it was rarer for her to not be in the Lair than it was for her to be in it. After a while they had even stopped blindfolding her, so that she could come and visit them on her own. Miwa's family was opening their hearts and home to the gaijin, and all she could see was them giving her a great big target for when she would inevitably stab them in the back. No matter how hard she tried, Miwa just couldn't understand why they would leave themselves open like that. The risk wasn't worth the reward.

The kunoichi sighed bitterly, her good mood beginning to flee with the turn her thoughts were taking.

_A white blank page...and a swelling rage! Rage! You did not think when you sent me to the brink – to the brink! You desired my attention, but denied my affections! My affections! So tell me now, where was my fault? In loving you with my whole heart? Oh, tell me now where was my fault in loving you with my whole heart?_

Her family couldn't seem to comprehend just how big a threat the gaijin was to them, to their entire way of life. While it was truly unlikely that April was a master manipulator, it was still entirely possible seeing as they still didn't know much about her. She could be hoarding all the information they revealed to her, their abilities, their training, their location, their history, until there was enough that she could make a pretty penny for all she knew. She might not even have waited, instead letting the information out bit by bit to those who shouldn't know, those who were waiting for the opportune moment to strike. Even on the off chance that she wasn't planning to tell anyone about them, she still might reveal something on accident, or be tricked into saying something that would doom them all, a fatal slip of the tongue. It was all far, far too risky, but her family was far too enamored with the idea of April O'Neil.

There were perks to having someone like her around, she could not deny that. April could easily slip into a crowd and listen in on useful information. She could walk into a store and buy things without suspicion, things they needed that couldn't be scavenged. She could walk under the sunlight freely and without worry. Yes, there was an upside to having someone on the topside.

But they had _Miwa._

_Miwa_ had listened in on humans before, on the conversations of sewer workers to find out where they would be inspecting next, on men who worked in junkyards to learn their shifts and when their breaks would be, on rebellious teenagers who hid underground literally and figuratively to escape something, their parents or the law or gang members who they had crossed. _Miwa_ could walk into a store and buy things they needed – it had been the entire reason she was allowed to go topside early in the first place, didn't they remember? How else had they thought she'd gotten that cake for their fifteenth Mutation Day? She certainly hadn't baked it. And although it made her uncomfortable, _Miwa_ was perfectly able to walk around in daylight. To be hidden in plain sight was a vital skill for a kunoichi. All of it was risky, that could not be denied, but it was less risky than a loose tongue, less risky that some newly-met human girl. There was no need for the gaijin in their lives. So why? Why did they want April O'Neil?

Why wasn't _Miwa_ enough?

Her thoughts were interrupted when someone banged on her door. "Miwa! Master Splinter wants to see you!"

Miwa slammed her palm against the wall once in response, but by then her brother was already leaving, going back to rejoin the others and April, undoubtedly. Her good mood gone, she stood and reached out a hand to shut off her boombox as she left, pausing only long enough to hear the last words of the song.

_Lead me to the truth and I will follow you with my whole life. Oh, lead me to the truth and I will follow you with my whole life!_

* * *

"...and then Irma just asks for his number! After meeting him for the first time! Ugh, sometimes I worry about that girl..."

Miwa smiled politely and nodded along as if she cared while April blathered on about her friend from school. The sun was still high in the sky as they walked side by side to April's aunt's house, where the redhead lived since her dad's kidnapping.

Master Splinter had called Miwa to request that she escort their guest home. April had somewhere she and her aunt needed to go later that afternoon, and it was too bright for her brothers to bring her back like they usually did, so that day the task fell to Miwa. She wasn't happy about it, but agreed nonetheless.

She did a quick survey of the area before glancing back to pretend to watch the girl tell her story. Her eyes were passionate as her hands gestured animatedly in regards to whatever she was saying. Clearly love at first sight was a subject she felt strongly about.

Honestly, no matter how hard Miwa tried she just couldn't see what her family found so amazing about the girl. She acted kind and polite, yes. She was intelligent, yes. She didn't seem to judge her family based on their looks, yes. She could bring out a side of each of them they rarely showed otherwise, yes. She was pretty, yes. Donnie in particular seemed hyperaware of that. But none of that seemed to add up to how much they adored her, and it didn't make any sense. What was so special about a human friend?

Tade kuu mushi mo sukizuki, she supposed, and she was just going to have to learn to live with it until the gaijin finally shed her pretty skin to strike. And she could wait.

"...so she's gonna be meeting up with him next Friday, and..."

Miwa let out a soundless sigh as she readjusted the hoodie of her disguise. It would still be nice if the gaijin lived closer to a manhole, though.

"Okay, seriously, what is it?"

The kunoichi resisted the instinct to tense as she was caught showing her displeasure to the situation. Great, that was all she needed. If her family learned about this she would never hear the end of it.

She stopped walking and made to bow and apologize, but April was waving her off before she even lowered her head. "No, not the sigh. Well, sort of the sigh. Ugh." She sighed herself, clearly frustrated with her inability to convey what she meant. "Sometimes when I talk to you, I get this feeling that you're not being...real."

The kunoichi tilted her head questioningly, resisting the urge to motion for the girl to get on with whatever she was babbling about that time.

"See! Right there!" April pointed at Miwa's face as if she had revealed some deep dark secret. "That's exactly what I'm talking about! Whenever I see you or talk to you or be in the same general area as you, you do that thing! That two-faced thing where you act all polite but secretly can't stand me!"

...What?

"You've been doing that since the first time I met you." April went on. "Since the _very first time_ I met you. I figured that I was imagining it back then, that it was just some weird feeling I had, that maybe my nerves were getting to me. But as time went on I kept getting the same feeling, even weeks later! Even now I get the feeling that you hate my guts!"

Well, it was true, but how did she–?

"I thought that maybe I was offending you somehow." April was clearly on a roll. "But no matter what I did, the feeling didn't get any better. Heck, it only got worse! I tried everything I could think of. I tried learning some Japanese manners. I tried getting to know you. I tried changing what I talked to you about. I tried talking to you more. I tried talking to you less. I tried not talking to you at all for a while!"

She wished she'd stop talking right then. Miwa waved her hands in front of her, the gesture saying both April was mistaken – though she wasn't – and she needed to quiet down at once. She was starting to draw attention to them.

But the girl would not be silenced. "If you don't like me that's fine. I can deal with that. What I can't deal with is not knowing why! You've got to have a reason for it! Is it something I did? Something I said? I don't want to have this weird awkward grudge between us if it can be helped! So why is it there? Is it my fault, or is it just you? If you have something to say to me then just say it already!"

Miwa raised an eyebrow.

April blushed. "Shut up, you know what I mean!"

She did, but that didn't mean she was going to give up the chance to make fun of her, especially now that the jig was up. No point in continuing the niceties when they were alone. Miwa couldn't help but be inwardly horrified with herself, however. How had that gaijin, that normal human girl, seen through her mask to the true emotions that lurked beneath? She was a kunoichi! Deception was her forte! Was she truly so pathetic a ninja that she could be discovered by April O'Neil?

Apparently so.

"Well? I'm waiting."

Yes, she was well aware and could not care less. Miwa reached into her pocket, resigned to wasting paper explaining why April was not high on her list of well-liked people–

There was a hand on her wrist keeping her arm still and another over her mouth, as if it would have any real effect. Shock allowed Miwa to be pulled into the alleyway, but she broke free as soon as she realized what was happening. "Quiet!" April shushed Miwa as the kunoichi whirled on her as if she was about to start yelling, livid. "Did you see those men?"

No, she had been preoccupied dealing with her charge's idiocy. What men and what did it matter?

"There." April leaned carefully around the corner of the building and pointed to the backs of two men in black suits who had just passed by. They must have just rounded the block when April noticed them to still be so close. "The men in black. Those are definitely the Kraang, I'm sure of it."

Miwa shot April an incredulous look. She couldn't have seen the two for more than two seconds and it'd been weeks since her escapade with the Kraang yet she was sure?

April answered Miwa's unspoken question. "Those are the guys that kidnapped my dad. I'm not going to be forgetting their faces anytime soon." She leaned a little farther around the edge, trying to get a better view of the men who might be aliens. "I bet you they're up to something. We've got to follow them!"

The ninja shook her head both in answer to the gaijin's wish and in disbelief. Surely the girl wasn't so devoid of common sense that she couldn't see what a bad idea that was?

"What? Why not? They could have info on my dad!" April protested, proving that she did in fact have zero common sense.

Miwa sighed audibly before once again pulling out her notepad and charcoal. _Look_, she wrote, _I understand that you want to save your dad. I really do. But this is not the time or place. It's daylight out, so my brothers won't be able to come get us if they think we're in trouble. If those just happen to be two innocent bystanders and not the Kraang like you think they are, we could get in some serious trouble. If they really are the Kraang then they have the advantage of numbers, since you can't fight them. Furthermore, you being with me if we went after them and got caught, which we probably would since you are not a ninja, would make you an easy target and something that I'd have to defend, which would leave me open and vulnerable and then we'd never learn anything. My family will find information on our own when it's dark and safer. Just be patient. _

She held out the note so that the gaijin could read it, but found the girl rounding a corner down the street, chasing after the two men.

If Miwa were physically capable of it she might have screamed in frustration.

She charged after the fool, intent on stopping her before she made a huge mistake. It wouldn't be hard, as she was the fastest of the family in short bursts, but unfortunately, April had gotten a good deal ahead of her while she'd been writing, so she only caught up to her after she'd ducked into an alley to spy on whatever the supposed Kraang were doing. To the girl's credit she had to yet be caught, hiding behind a dumpster to conceal herself, but Miwa didn't doubt that it was only a matter of time.

The kunoichi snuck up beside April and covered her mouth, wrapping her other arm around her so she couldn't move. The girl gasped, as Miwa knew she would, but the sound was silenced by her hand. She struggled, as Miwa once again knew she would, so she waited until she had the opportunity to turn her around so she could see just who was holding her. "Miwa." April breathed in relief when she registered her supposed captor. She frowned. "Couldn't you have just, you know, tapped me on the shoulder instead of making me think the Kraang got me?"

She could have, but April would have reacted exactly the same way and then the Kraang really would have gotten her. It didn't matter, they needed to go.

April ignored Miwa as she pointed back towards the street, opting to focus back on the two men instead. "I was right, they're the Kraang." She informed the ninja. "See that lab they're standing in front of? They were talking about breaking into it a week from today. Apparently that's the only chance they'll have for a long time."

Great, good to know. Now they could LEAVE.

"Hey, wait a minute!" April protested as Miwa yanked on her arm. "They might still have more to say! What if they know about by dad?"

Miwa rolled her eyes but gave the girl her message from earlier anyway.

April read it, her frown deepening with every word. The gaijin looked up, and Miwa wanted to groan at the determination in her eyes, but she was no more capable of groaning than she was screaming. "I can't wait." April told her. "I just can't anymore. It's been over a month without my dad, and none of us have seen heads or tails of the Kraang since then. Not until now. I know you guys are trying your best to find him, I really do. But sitting around not doing anything to help is driving me nuts! I just can't wait any longer. I need my dad back. I miss him. I miss him so much. I know there's not much I can do since I'm not a ninja like the rest of you, but I can do this! I can watch what they do and listen to them during the day when the rest of you can't! It's something that _only_ I can do! So no, I'm not going to leave until I hear every word that they have to say!"

Miwa slapped a palm to her forehead, both at the refusal to leave and the fact that April had been raising her voice throughout her impassioned speech. So much for something she could do.

It was no surprise to Miwa when one of the Kraang peeped around the edge of the dumpster to see what was going on with an impassive face. It surprised the Kraang, however, when Miwa drew her tessen and sliced it through the exosuit's eyes. It took a few staggering steps back before collapsing, hands covering its face. She pulled April to a standing position and shoved her towards the entrance of the alley with a hiss of displeasure. April stumbled and gaped, maybe from the sudden appearance of the Kraang, maybe from the misconception that Miwa was incapable of making any sort of noise. She didn't know. She didn't care. She didn't let her attention linger on her long enough to contemplate it, turning to the second Kraang who was fast approaching.

It – He? – It stopped just out of reach. "The one who blocks the way of Kraang stands between Kraang and the one known as April O'Neil. Kraang demands movement of the one who blocks the way of Kraang."

Wow, Mikey hadn't been kidding when he said they talked funny. Naturally Miwa did not move, instead choosing to take a fighting stance.

Though the exosuit's expression didn't change in the slightest, the Kraang was clearly displeased with her choice. "If the one who blocks the way of Kraang will not move to unblock the way of Kraang, then Kraang will make the one who blocks the way of Kraang unblock the way of Kraang." It then rushed forward to do just that.

For a hunk of metal it sure was fast. Even though it made no effort to hide where it was going to strike, Miwa was barely able to block the blow because of speed alone. Still, she managed to block the punch to her gut regardless, though she winced in pain from the force of it. The Kraang hit harder than Master Splinter when she was late for practice, and that was saying something.

She countered the punch with a shove back before she attempted to club the side of its head. The alien robot dodged by crouching down, and Miwa barely had time to register the fact before the Kraang was trying to uppercut her face. The attempt failed when Miwa leaned backwards, letting the motion pull her into a backwards handstand and then a flip. When she was upright once more she opened her tessen and threw it like a boomerang at the alien's chest.

The hit connected with a clang, but it didn't do much more than force the Kraang to take a step back. She must not have used enough force. She caught the tessen as it returned to her before snapping it shut and charging–

Something wrapped around her ankle unexpectedly and sent her crashing to the ground, her war fan sliding just out of reach. Miwa twisted to see what made her fall, only to find the first Kraang holding her tight. Though the exosuit's eyes were still blinded, the chest compartment had opened up to allow the Kraang within to see what it was doing. The alien let out a shrill shriek when it their eyes met. The kunoichi cursed herself for her rookie mistake. One never should assume that their opponent was down for the count.

Miwa tried to break free and grab her spare tessen, but the second Kraang was suddenly there above her and slamming its foot into her stomach, pushing all the air from it and leaving her unable to do anything but gasp in pain. Her eyes screwed shut without her meaning to, and when she force open again she found herself staring into the dangerous end of a laser gun. Right, Mikey had mentioned those...

"The one who blocked the way of Kraang will never again block the way of Kraang." The second Kraang threatened in monotone. There was the whine of the gun charging, and Miwa's eyes went wide with the realization that she was going to–

"HEY KRAANG!"

The second Kraang paused just as its finger was about to push down on the trigger. Its head turned towards the source of the sound, only to snap back as it was hit with the lid of a garbage can of all things.

Miwa didn't waste the chance, breaking free of the first Kraang and drawing her spare tessen so she could drive it through the knee of the second. The alien fell forward and the kunoichi had to scoot back so as to not be crushed by the heavy robot. With both Kraang effectively unable to chase after them, Miwa grabbed her lost tessen, stood up, ran to the entrance of the alley, grabbed the stunned April's hand, pulled her into the light of the New York City streets, and ran.

* * *

"You know," April gasped, winded from the long sprint, "I'm not sure whether I should be exhilarated or terrified."

The two had made it to April's aunt's house without further incident, where they now were, resting on the fire escape outside April's bedroom window. They had run without stop until they got to the house, and Miwa had been asked to meet with her charge to talk before she left.

"I think it might be a bit of both, actually." April decided for herself when she could breathe more easily.

Miwa shrugged, unwinded but still slightly in shock herself from the whole ordeal.

"You think they're still going to break into that lab after they find out what we did?" She questioned, her expression saying that she didn't like her own idea. "It would suck if they decided to cancel the whole thing and all that was for nothing."

Miwa shrugged again. It was hard to say. She hadn't heard the Kraang talking, so she didn't know what they wanted from the lab. She only knew that April said that they wouldn't have the chance again for a long time if they didn't go for it in a week. In the end, it really depended on if what they wanted was important enough to risk interference. Either way, April needed to tell what she'd heard them to her brothers. There was no way they could pass up on the chance they might show.

"Alright. I'll tell your brothers either way." April said, unknowingly agreeing to do exactly what Miwa wanted her to. "I wonder why the Kraang wanted to get to me, though." She pondered out loud.

Miwa shot her a look asking why she was so stupid.

April caught the look and immediately got defensive. "Hey, I don't know! It's my dad they wanted, remember?"

According to the story Miwa had heard, the Kraang had tried to capture BOTH of the O'Neils. She'd also heard that April had been all but useless in trying to fight against them. If the Kraang hadn't wanted both of them they surely would have just left April, seeing as she was no threat to them and no figure of authority would believe her tale, or they would have waited until Mr. O'Neil was alone to take him. But they didn't. Surely that was obvious? April was supposed to be smart, right? But Miwa didn't bother to try and explain, focusing on something more important instead.

The fact that she'd saved Miwa's life.

If April hadn't returned to distract the Kraang when she had – if she'd even left at all, Miwa honestly wasn't sure if she had – then Miwa knew for a fact she would have died. A shot through the head, whether it was a bullet or plasma, would undoubtedly kill anyone. And she would have been killed if the girl had not been there. It was a dizzying realization.

She couldn't understand why April had done it. She'd found out only minutes earlier that Miwa held no fondness for the girl. Quite the opposite. She was still convinced that the girl was waiting for the right moment to destroy the Hamato Clan. There was no benefit at all in saving Miwa, emotional or otherwise. Master Splinter would be grateful to hear that April had saved Miwa from certain death, yes, and the family would trust her more for it, but the girl could have easily played her demise off as something she could have done nothing about, and nobody would have questioned the fact. April was well aware that she was the medic in the family, so it would have made sense to get rid of her first, especially when she had such a good excuse. Yet she hadn't, and Miwa was in the dark as to why.

But the fact remained, Miwa owed her life to April O'Neil.

The kunoichi took a deep breath and moved to stand in front of her savior. Swallowing her pride, she dropped to one knee, laid her fist on the ground and bowed her head.

She heard April take a step back in surprise. "What are you doing?"

Eyes kept firmly low, she reached for her notepad and charcoal once again. _I owe you my life. _Miwa wrote on the paper. _On my honor, it is now yours to command. Tell me only what you wish, and I will obey._

Miwa held up the paper so April could read it, her own eyes still focused on the floor. She had no idea what the girl would ask of her. She could ask her to do most anything and Miwa would have to obey on her honor as a ninja. She wouldn't do anything to harm her family, of course. She valued her family more than honor. But anything else, no matter how humiliating or despicable, she would have no choice but to do. She was completely at her mercy.

"Raise your head."

Miwa obeyed.

April was crouched down in front, smiling so kindly at her that Miwa did a double take. "I want nothing from you," April began, and Miwa bristled before she continued, "but what your family has already promised me. Help me find and rescue my dad. That's all I want."

...That was it?

"That's it." April confirmed as she stood, pulling Miwa up with her. "Thank you. I've got to go inside now, my aunt will be home any minute."

She left, leaving a stunned Miwa behind. She hadn't expected that. She hadn't expected that at all. She had essentially asked nothing of Miwa without dishonoring her in any way, shape or form. Was this even real? All she wanted was for Miwa to do something that she was already going to? When she could have made Miwa do almost literally anything? It didn't make sense. The gai – the _girl_ was human, therefore corrupt and evil. She'd had the perfect opportunity to exploit that, she had the _right_ to even, yet all she wanted was her dad to be safe? April had broken every rule about humanity she'd ever known, and Miwa didn't understand.

She didn't understand, but maybe, just maybe, April O'Neil wasn't so bad after all...

"Tell the guys that I'll see them tomorrow, okay?"

...but she still hated her.


End file.
